MAGAZINE OP SCIENCE AND ART. 
235 
REMARKS ON MOTIVE POWER AND ON 
THE APPLICATION OF POWER TO 
MACHINERY. 
„ By F. S. Peppeucorne, C.E. 
1. A great philosopher has truly observed that “we 
can command nature only by following her laws,” and 
this is especially true in mechanical science. We innst 
therefore take our stand upon fundamental laws, follow 
the motto “ ars est witaram imitare” and never 
depart from it, if we wish to set those great wheels in 
motion which, in their revolution, spread life, light, 
and civilization throughout the world. 
2* In every state of society the construction and nse 
of machines, which economize manual labour, without 
however superseding it, and which enable men to per¬ 
form what they could not accomplish without them, 
and to contend successfully with apparently insur¬ 
mountable obstacles form the basis of prosperity in 
almost every department of enterprise ; and as the 
progress of a community or country is judged of by 
the knowledge and skill of its inhabitants, and by the 
nature and perfection of its machinery for abridging 
human labour, so the machinery of a country should 
correspond with its exigencies, and this is of more than 
ordinary importance to the inhabitants of colonies or 
new countries, where circumstances generally impose 
upon them the payment of a high price for labour, 
whether it be skilled or unskilled. 
3. It is not intended in this brief memoir to enter 
into the details of the triumphs of machinery, as com¬ 
pared with mere mannaL labour, but to show the im¬ 
portance of the simpler applications of mechanical 
science to the useful purposes of life. Science and art 
combined are embodied, more or less, in all these ap¬ 
plications, which have so powerfully contributed to 
raise Great Britain to the high rank which she holds 
amongst nations * and it is hardly necessary to observe 
that the vast resources of Great Britain have resulted 
chiefly from the skill of her mechanics, and the im¬ 
provements which have been made in her machinery 
for converting raw’ material into the beautiful fabrics of 
commerce, and for extending that commerce to every 
part of the world by the progress of mechanical science, 
4. The power of machinery in England has been esti¬ 
mated to be equal to the labour of six hundred millions 
of men, one man being able, by the aid of machinery, 
to do the work which required at tho least 2-50 men to 
perform without its aid. 
Here, then, wo iiud the true cause of British pre¬ 
eminence and wealth, for if we withdraw*her machinery 
and her coal-fields from Great Britain, she sinks at 
once to the level of a third or a fourth-rate power 
among the nations, and the time has probably gone by 
since misguided but w ell-meaning persons, reasoning on 
false data, and drawing erroneous conclusions, decried 
the nse of machinery as tending to produce distress hv 
diminishing emplovment for labour ; for although the 
immediate effect ot' machinery may bo to diminish em¬ 
ployment in one particular branch of manufacture, yet 
it is certain that its ultimate effect is to benefit all 
classes, by the production of larger quantities- of an 
article at a reduced cost, by facilitating manufacturing 
pursuits, and by releasing tho inero manual labourer 
from a life of toil which degrades him. 
5. The steam-engine has created in Great Britain 
“ wealth beyond the dreams of avarice.” It has given 
an immense impetus to civilization over the whole 
world, and the arts and sciences, together with all the 
institutions of civilized society, have been promoted by 
its agency. But the enormous consumption of fuel at 
the present time, owing to the vast and rapid augmen¬ 
tation of steam-power, whether as applied to mines, 
manufactures, or locomotion by land and by water, has 
of late years excited apprehensions with regard to the 
probable exhaustion of the coal-fields of Great Britain. 
6. The number and extent of all the principal coal¬ 
fields in the north of England have been ascertained, 
and calculations have been made by Professors Buck- 
land and Sedgwick, (who are considered high authori¬ 
ties in such matters) from which it would appear that 
the northern coal-fields will probably boon the wane 
before 300 yearn have elapsed, and that with tho pre¬ 
sent increased and increasing demand for coal, 400 
years will leave little more than the name of the best 
English coal-fields. The mere possibility of such an 
event (there being no reproduction of coal) cannot bo 
regarded otherwise than as a national calamity, in¬ 
volving the destruction of a great portion of the manu¬ 
facturing and commercial prosperity of Great Britain, 
founded on her machinery, and which can only bo kept 
in action by the produce of her coal-mines. 
7 On tins subject Professor Rogers furnishes the fol¬ 
lowing estimates :—“ Each acre of a coal-seam 4 feet in 
thickness, and yielding one yard net of pure fuel, is 
equivalent to about 5000 tons. Each square mile of 
one such single coal bed contains eight million tons of 
fuel, equivalent to one million of men labouring 
through 20 veal's of their ripe strength. Assuming, 
for calculation, that ten millions fif tons, out of the pre¬ 
sent annual product of the British coal-mines, namely, 
sixty-five millions of tons, are applied to the production 
of mechanical power, then England annually summons 
to her aid an army of 3,300,000 fresh men’pledged to 
exert their strength for 20 years. Her actual annual 
expenditure of power is then represented by sixty-six 
millions of able-bodied labourers, and the latent strength 
resident in the whole coal products of the kingdom may 
hv the same process be calculated at more than four 
hundred millions of strong men.” 
8. It seems more than probable, however, from tho 
rapid progress of improvement and discovery, that long* 
before 300 years have elapsed, other and perhaps equally 
powerful and more economical mechanical agents will 
take the place of steam, and, to a great extent, super¬ 
sede it, and although steam will perhaps always be em¬ 
ployed in certain cases, yet other and cheaper motive 
powers will no doubt be’used in many kinds of work 
where steam is now out of the question. Visionary as 
it mar appear to some persons, the w riter is convinced 
that the steam-engine will dwindle into insignificance 
before the close of the present century. He "is more¬ 
over firmly convinced that an engine can be constructed 
which shall equal in its effect that of the steam-engine, 
without cost of fuel and without risk of explosion, and 
which shall be “ automatic ” or, in other words, con¬ 
tain the power of motion within itself; that the action 
of the moving power shall be constant and uniform, and 
shall softer no variation or diminution for years, or 
oven for centuries; and that the effects of such an en¬ 
gine, actuated by a vast power which has existed since 
the Creation, but which has hitherto been imperfectly 
developed, will be such as must powerfully affect the 
prosperity and the happiness of the whole human race. 
_ 9. Providence has furnished us with a power un¬ 
limited in quantity', and capable of performing more 
work than all the steam-engines or other engines in Tho 
world. It is for man.to render available this boundless 
power, and to make it subservient as a motive power, 
as it was doubtless intended that it should be employed 
by the bounty* and benevolence of the Great Creator 
and Arohitf.ct of the Universe. 
10. This power is the force of gravity', and it seoms 
alrnostsuperfiuous to enumerate the many advantages 
which it possesses over steam. There is perfect safety 
from all danger from fire or explosion. There is no 
expenditure of materials when the engine is not in 
action, and. its power can bo applied “at a moments 
notice, as it is always ready for action, without previous 
consumption of fuel in getting up steam, and in sea¬ 
going vessels, there would bo no Freightage occupied by 
coal- These aTe the most important advantages which 
it offers, but many others Will suggest themselves to 
any one who reflects on the peculiar nature of tho two 
forces. Many scientific men are of the opinion that the 
force of gravity is inapplicable as a motive force, and 
they base their disbelief on the failure of the attempts 
that have hitherto been made to utilize it. This is un¬ 
fortunately true, but it does not necessarily follow that 
